Deenik, M. Lzn., Albertus Agathus (1835-1903)

Albertus Agathus Deenik M. Lzn., a Dutch Mennonite pastor, was born in 1835 at Haarlem and died in 1903 at Veenwouden, Friesland. After finishing his studies at theMennonite Seminary at Amsterdam, he served for nearly 40 years in the congregations of Ternaard(1860-1881) and Stavoren-Molkwerum(1881-1899). He had a weak constitution, which made it impossible for him to serve larger congregations; but though a minister of two small churches, he had some influence through his publications, which appeared in a number of Dutch periodicals. He was editor of a popular religious periodical, 1868-1872, De Nieuwe Richting in het Leven, bladen ter godsdienstige Volksontwikkeling. From the beginning he was an ardent champion of Liberalism, with a tendency to radicalism. He translated publications of radical French and German theologians into the Dutch language: including E. Renan's Life of Jesus and D. F. Strauss’s The Old and the New Faith. In addition to several theological books, he also translated numerous German and English novels.